Four on the Floor – Top Ten Album Covers.

In no particular order here are ten albums covers that impressed me as a kid and I do mean as a kid, as I have grown my tastes have changed, I like what I like, do I like all of the albums musically, mmm some of them I love some of them I’m not bothered about, but the album covers are stunning, some bands are missing in action, I love Queen and I like the artwork of most of the albums “like” being the operative word. I love most of the Iron maiden albums covers and Mark Wilkinson artwork for both Fish and Marillion and many other artistes, again there’s nothing here from them. So lets delve into my youth and see if there's anything that you like!

1. Blue Oyster Cult – On Your Feet or on Your Knees 8.5/10, the first album I bought with my own money, (Tubular Bells at a charity shop doesn’t count) there’s just something sinister about the cover, I had a huge poster from Callers in Newcastle I was there when they took it down in the shop and my mum asked them for it, if I had asked they probably would have told me to bugger off, but my mum asked and I got it rolled and put in a tube, it took one whole wall in my bedroom, I had a girlfriend who didn’t like to visit me simply because of that poster (LOL).

2. ELO – Out of the Blue 8/10. An album cover that’s quite simple (unlike the music) but whenever I see it it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, again an album of its time and a time when I was usually happy, I know me with my reputation, times were good just like this album!

3. UFO – Obsession 9/10. what an album, what a cover they both blew my mind , I already liked the band, but this simply took it to another level and it took me a while to realise that the artwork was actually the bloody band, why only 9 out of ten, well about 20 years ago I went to an exhibition of alternative artwork and this was there in a multi colour version of this that was simply stunning!

4. Wishbone Ash – Live Dates 7.5/10. an album my brother had and I always wanted this as a

t- shirt, I love the art and I do like the music, I did see this as a t-shirt for sale in the USA but it wasn’t worth $80, but I was tempted, I do go back to the album from time to time, but the artwork has stuck with me.

5. Kansas – Point of Know Return 8.5/10. I kept seeing this album cover long before I ever heard it, but the second I heard it, I had to devour everything that I could, still one of the only bands I wanted to see that I never got to, and yes I do play most of the mid 70’s back catalogue of this band I simply loved Steve Walsh’s voice!

6. Tom Robinson Band – Power in the Darkness 9/10. The album cover that was the first thing painted on my school haversack (it was a 70’s thing) the album came with a stencil (which is now worth more than the album) I played this album non stop when it came out, the next thing on my haversack was The dickies logo, it lasted a fortnight before I repainted the TRB logo, that shows you how easy the stencil was to use because I did it myself (the second time) and it stayed for the rest of my school days!

7. The Skyhooks – Guilty until Proven Insane 8/10. the cover made me buy the album, I paid £1 for it my local shop cut out bin (I used to by a lot from there as I was always skint) and I loved the whole album, I knew nothing about the band but I played it a couple of times a week (and I still do) about a month after I bought this, a band called Iron Maiden released a cover of Women in Uniform that came from this album, I prefer the Skyhooks version.

8. Molly Hatchet – Debut 9/10. their best album but the album artwork by Frank Frazetta turned me onto the artwork of this fab artist, who I unknowingly had liked his previous album artwork ( Nazareth) good album great artwork.

9. The Scorpions – Lovedrive 9/10. At the time I thought that this was a weird cover (just about all of the Scorpions album artwork was) however similar to the UFO album, the band was on fire as was the artists, this album artwork was produced by Hipgnosis as were quite a few of this list and a lot of wonderful other artists, the album kicked the band out into the stratosphere I think the album cover helped.

10. Judas Priest – Killing Machine 9/10. I love this album cover (and all of the music) I do actually like quite a few Judas Priest album covers (there’s a couple of stinkers as well) this just about brought the decade to a close, things from here went through the roof and again if I went through the decades I probably compile a top one thousand covers, no I have no intention of doing this, don’t worry I know I do wander off the beaten track from time to time but with this I can assure you that I will stray this time!

Now this was all about the covers not the music , mind you I do like all of the albums, some of them I love, believe it or not 99% of the time covers have not influenced my buying pedigree of music, but that 1% of the albums I have bought based on a cover and not knowing anything about that band all of them have have been fantastic! Now what to blog about next time, you will just have to wait and see but until then …….Toodles!

Greatest Hits.

I have been watching a couple of podcasts of late and a couple of made an impression, with peeps saying top tens and the such like, I had a little time so I put pen to paper (so to speak).

Favourite Comedian – Billy Connolly, I have him seen more than any other comedian, and I have never seen the same show twice, (26 gigs in total), I do like a lot of American comedians, but this man to me is the King of Comedy!

Most Inspiring Sportsperson – Gordon Banks, still my favourite goal keeper and the person who really did inspire me to want to take part in sports, it was soon decided I was too small to be a goal keeper, so I became a defender, I believe people should get paid for what they deliver, however I think that the modern day sports people are paid obscene amounts, maybe that should be a full blog for later!

Favourite piece of classical music – I do like classical music but there’s a lot I have no idea what they are called or who the composer was, but to be honest the piece I will go with is O Fortuna by Carl Orff, if you don’t know it, its the piece that Ozzy used as an opener, I liked it before that I will say that the rest of the opera that it’s taken from is rather dull!

Favourite Song – Rainbow Stargazer, I honestly thought I would struggle with this one but no this popped straight into my mind and every other song I thought of that I pitted it against Stargazer, however not one single song could compete, this eight minutes of superb majestic rock music, it was also my mothers favourite song “play the song about the wizard” sill makes me smile!

Favourite Style of films – now this one I did struggle with this one, but it has to be British Movies, predominately Black and White classics, way too many to mention, I will be honest and if you ask on another day I might have another answer, watch this space!

Favourite Book – now this one did indeed give me a massive headache and I have bounced backwards and forwards between so many including in no particular order Taipan – James Clavell, Magician by Raymond E Fiest anything by James Elroy, Stephen King and so on and so on, but I’m going to stick with the three books that I learnt to read as a child and its by Enid Blyton The Magic Faraway Tree series, the first and still simply the best!

Favourite Actor – male or female I have no idea who I would or even could nominate for this position again I would probably nominate people from the golden era, so I’m going to raise a white flag and cop out of this one, there is simply way too many great actors!

Favourite Singer – Freddie Mercury, listen to the first seven Queen albums unbelievable, the later albums are good but the seeds were sown here, and he can sing any style, nuff said!

Work Of Art – I have no idea, I know what I like, I know what I don’t like and with this I mean classical art pieces, I do like modern artists (Mark Wilkinson) but I am going to go with Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh!

Favourite type of food – I like all styles, I haven’t come across much that I don’t like, but I would say home made Egg and Chips again purely from a nostalgia point of view, it is what it is

Lets see if I think the same in a years time!

Falling Apart at the Seams.

Another one about the fact that my body is quite literally falling apart at the seams (and yes the name game is in play) I had an appointment today for my diabetic feet testing, oh the joys of getting old!

As I sat in the waiting room, as always I was on time, as was the nurse, now that was a surprise, I was treated like a human being and the nurse was on point with all of my queries while conducting the testing, the appointment was what the NHS used to be all about, time taken to understand the persons needs, it wasn’t a conveyor belt type of appointment, time was taken and the appointment was a joy, well apart from when she attacked my feet with a machete, OK so I’m joking, but I hate being touched by other people (me weird oh hell yeah) I had a couple of semi serious questions (nothing life threatening) stuff that I wanted to talk to a health professional rather than looking stuff up on Google, yes the answer to all of my queries, the reply was “diabetes” for all of them. Oh nope hang on one of the answers was “Cellulitis” a hold back from a cheap holiday about twelve years ago, it flares up every now and again usually when I’m tired.

Oh boy am I tired, at the moment it feels like I haven't had a decent nights sleep in years, for about the last 18 months I have averaged around four hours sleep a night, the problem I have is once I’m awake that’s it I have to get up, that then knocks my whole day off kilter, when I get up I have my breakfast my dinner is usually around nine in the morning I try to go as long as I can, but once hunger sets in, my heads in my bait box looking for something to eat, I have my evening meal usually as soon as I get home and then its the long ride through until bedtime and then back to my four hours sleep, I do wake up feeling refreshed for a short period of time, I will admit to being rather tired after eighteen months of a sleep pattern that’s not very helpful to my health.

I was doing my walking through the house on Tuesday morning, in the dark so not to disturb anybody who is still in the land of nod, and as I walk like a bloody penguin, I accidentally kicked something hard there on the landing in the dark! Ouch was not the four lettered word that sprang to mind, my toe was badly bruised (and still is) but thankfully isn’t sore any more, typical of the little injuries that you pick up when you are wandering in the house in the dark.

I had my little incident because I fell over (see the blog Scream) which shook my sense of invincibility and that set my old neck and shoulder injury off, thankfully I didn’t bruise my forehead or smash the toilet with my thick skull, over the years I have had a number of similar injuries minor nicks and bruises that always seem to resurface at the worst time to remind me I’m not as invincible as I like to think that I am! Over the years the little niggles have generally gotten bigger with time and the fact I never went to get them fixed when I should have.

Oh the big things the broken bones, I’m not that dumb, I hobbled to the quacks as quick as my body would allow, but the niggles I never went, stupid then and regretting it these days, but we all learn the hard way, actually I’m not sure that I learn, we will see how it goes once I have my new knee, I will make sure that I get to stick with my rehab so that I can get on with life, all I do know is if it doesn’t happen soon, there will be further issues as my old and ancient body breaks down.

There are other maladies that I am having additional tests for at the moment, nothing specific or being spoken about until they have all of the details, I’m not too worried because the Dr doesn’t seem to be too bothered, they are simply being super cautious because of my age and already existing health conditions, I will go with the flow until the bell tolls and they can finally nail the arse of what ever is causing said issues, what is annoying is the fact that mentally, this is possibly the brightest spot of the last five years, I am trying really hard to be a more positive person, I’m not saying that I’m perfect and I’m also not saying I haven’t had some small blips, well because that would be a lie, I’m not happy with my sleep patterns (as already discussed) which to be truthful are usually pretty crap, there doesn’t seem to be any answers as to why over the last eighteen months I wake up after fours hours, I have done all the tricks, taken all the supplements (magnesium and the such like) last night I had the best sleep of this year, I had roughly seven and a half hours of sleep, helped by the fact I had drank rather a large quantity of vodka last night, I certainly don’t want that to be the answer, not that I don’t want to have a drink, but I have a tendency to get the munchies when I have had a drink, I am trying to watch my weight as I want my knee operation, too much of the munchies and the weight will come back on, a very vicious circle.

So there you go, another blog and the one thing that the sleepless nights has been doing is helping me write more than I have been, that can only be good for the blog, so stay safe stay alive and keep watching the skies the intention is to try and do a blog (or at least publish ) every five to six days, I know I’ve said that before lets just see how good I can keep the promise of delivering plenty of blogs, until the next one…………..Toodles!

Four on the Floor – 1982.

 There were so many albums that were released in this year that I thought I would struggle to pick four, but I did quite easily, now don’t get your knickers in a twist, this is my choice, you will have your choice, if you do start your own blog, you might simply enjoy writing about it, you might also get a large amount of abuse for your choices, don’t say I didn’t warn you if you do!

Tygers of Pan Tang – The Cage. 8/10.

Quite a swerve from previous albums they went all polished and added keyboards and tried to go a little bit like Queen, it nearly died a death as the band had a full album of material already written with John Sykes (the demo’s are out there) one track survives the cover Love Potion no9 , its a cracking cover but to me feels out of place on the album, the record label spent money to get a “name” producer Peter Collins (Rush, Gary Moore, Nik Kershaw to name but a few) the band were struggling to come up with songs, they turned to Steve Thompson who is from my neck of the woods, and who I did converse regarding song writing wise around the same time period, he was very helpful, the songs on here were a little poppy, the only issue for me is the opener Rendezvous, I think it was slightly too “poppy” I could have done without the syn drums at the start, a lot of the songs are around the three minute mark, I like the album, however it all turned to crap after the tour, they regrouped but it never hit the heights of this album.

Asia – Asia (debut). 8.5/10.

A supergroup that everybody said would end in failure, they turned in the biggest selling rock album of the year in the USA (10 million copies worldwide and still sells), a great debut produced by Mike Stone, 9 tracks of superb muscular music, there’s not a bad track on the album, ride easy which didn’t make the album being a b side and it really is, they only did a gig at Wembley in the UK, with a juggler as a support act, again it didn’t last the second album was rushed with John Wetton leaving / being sacked halfway though that tour with Greg Lake stepping in (the video is on YouTube) and at the end of the tour Wetton was back and Steve Howe had gone as well, I personally prefer the third album(Astra) but on this album they simply didn’t put a foot wrong , great cover, great album, great band!

Judas Priest – Screaming For Vengeance. 9/10.

They have never made a really bad album (maybe the debut) there have been some bumps in the road, Point of Entry was probably a little poppy for the rock crowd (although the tour for that album was so good) they regrouped to Ibiza and recorded a classic, nine tracks, one cover, one instrumental, a great cover, there was nothing wrong at all with this album, why 9/10 well the hit single outstayed its welcome (for me) I like the song, but it’s just the only track they ever seem to play, my issue was the home tour which was at the tail end of a massive world tour with around seven months in the States and Canada, a lot of UK fans felt neglected, it was worth the wait, Quiet Riot supporting, the city hall full to the gunnels probably the best gig in Newcastle for me, and they played some awesome gigs there up until this point,

Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast. 9.5/10.

I love the first two albums, but to me this was when the blue touch paper was lit, Martin Birch cracked the whip and the band took the bit between their lips and ran with it, 8 awesome tracks the band hated invaders and wanted to put the B – side Total Eclipse on the album, I’m glad they didn’t as it was a bit of a plodder, the fact they still play half of the album live (and in the original key says so much), I go back to this album more than the current crop of albums (and I still like those albums) but I would love them to get back to the short sharp punch of this song style, this album, a short review simply because there is so little wrong to pick to pieces, is it perfect, no, but it’s as near as you can get it dammit.

Wind Weather and Storm.

 

Yes as usual the name game is in play, this small missive all about the Hurricane, my name for my grandson The Hurricane! He is having some issues in life and we all are trying to assist him. I’m not going to go into all of the issues that he has, when he’s cool he’s fab, he’s as bright as a button and for his age he’s damn smart, smarter than I’ll ever be, he has taught himself how to play the piano, however there are times when he has ticks and other issues, I wish I could wave a magic wand and help him. Unfortunately even in this day and age that’s not what’s going to happen!

He wasn’t always the same way, as he’s gotten older, his issues have come through harder and stronger, and as hard as he attempts to do good things, sometimes it simply doesn’t help, we have had many sleepless nights, stressful times and worrying times, things that we didn’t ever think that we would have to fight, everyday I tell him that I love him and that he will get out of life what he puts into it, I’m trying to instil a sense of empathy for his fellow humans, something that because of his condition he has little understanding, he knows he is loved, however sometimes as much as he is, things sometimes go slightly askew!

We love having him here in the house, but at times its hyper stressful, sometimes its nothing but argument after argument, and to be honest I learn something new every day, about him and his condition, it can be extremely draining for us, sometimes its good sometimes its not, we strive to do our best every day, and you know what sometimes even our best is simply not good enough. But we try, and we will keep trying no matter what it takes. In the bad old days you would just been battered for being “naughty” however that’s not what its about, its about trying to help, even when he doesn’t want it, listen to me the new age person that I have become…………..NOT!

Why have I felt the need to write this small blog just to let people know, that no matter how good you try life can turn to crap in the blink of an eye, but no matter what you have to keep moving forward, you never know what people are going through and watch the skies, there’s a couple of blogs simmering away, so until then………..Toodles!

The Cinema Show.

I don’t as a rule watch a lot of TV, as I think that the bulk of reality TV is crap, but I have come to realise that I do watch an awful lot of films, and that quite a few of them are old or are of the “classic” genre, and to be honest I don’t mind what people think of me, am I old, no I don’t think that I am.

Even as a child I didn’t watch that much TV, I didn’t seek it out, it was usually on in the background if I was downstairs but if I was upstairs I would be playing music and reading, but Saturdays were reserved if the weather was bad for films, my original go to was cowboy movies, I didn’t mind what or who starred but I did love the John Wayne films, I didn’t care then and I don’t care now for his politics, I was a kid what did I know and the films I enjoyed, even now they bring a glow, that’s not to say that I’m insensitive to the themes, there is one or two that I wouldn’t sit down and watch now, as I’m now an adult and I understand what was being said, and I don’t agree with the sentiment because I now understand the “adult” themes but most of them still bring me the joy that they gave me in the past!

I like old films the gangster movies the original horror, even some of the comedy, and just occasionally the odd Rom Com, I would howl with laughter to the likes of Abbott and Costello and some of the farces, the romance films and the war movies and yes even some of the things that they call “Classic” if its black and white I will plonk my self down with a cup of tea, the wife will roll her eyes but soon sits down and takes an interest, she loves the TV. I loved going to the pictures, my first experience of most of the early Bond movies, at time when you could see most when accompanied by an adult, when my parents split up the few times that our father picked us up we would end up in Newcastle at the Odeon watching triple bills of films that when I look back they probably weren’t appropriate for us kids, one that sticks in my mind was a film called Zig Zag with George Kennedy starring, I should say thank you because this really started my love of cinema.

When I finished junior school as a treat the whole school went off to The Tyneside Cinema and sat watching Errol Flynn starring in The Adventures of Robin Hood, simply stunning in colour on that big screen, the first of many trips to that particular cinema, as I grew up I discovered “Classic British Cinema” the likes of “Kes” and “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” and sank back into earlier classics like “a matter of life and death” and “The Third Man” growing into newer films like “Get Carter” and on into films like “Excalibur” “The Long Good Friday” the list goes on and on I think its safe to say that I enjoy films!

As always there is an exception to the rule, I do like a well thought out horror film. I love the classics, but I don’t care much for this modern gore porn, if you do good luck to you, but to me you know when its going to happen and that doesn’t float my boat, I like to have to think about what I’m watching, so lets just say modern classics such as “Dog Soldiers” and films like “let Me In”

“A Werewolf in London” and “The Thing” are great its not that I don’t like horror, I just prefer having to think and work it out, not like modern horror!

I certainly love discovering films that have passed me by, oddities that I didn’t think at the time that they would appeal, the likes of “Dead Man Shoes” or “Twin Town” far too many to mention, I like the Marvel and DC films although I will critique them, I like action films, I like certain actors and actresses (when did that not become a word these days everyone are simply actors) people have asked me to blog more about films but I don’t think I can, because every one has there own tastes, and to be honest I don’t think that I’m articulate enough to say anything about films, I like what I like, I’m not a snob, if you like something good luck to you.

I am going to put my current top ten up, its for me I probably could have done a top twenty but I’m not going to be greedy.

1. The Searchers.

2. The Quiet Man.

3. A Matter of Life and Death.

4. White Heat.

5. The Maltese Falcon.

6. Casablanca.

7. Excalibur.

8. The Adventures of Robin Hood.

9. The Dawn Patrol.

10. The Fifth Element.

Yes I know a bulk of them are “classics” but that’s where my head is at the moment, give them a go you never know you might like one or two of them, depending on the comments to this blog I might simply start doing the odd classic film top fives films of various actors and lets not get started with directors, anyway I feel as if I have droned on enough about films. So stay safe and stay alive until the next one…………..Toodles!

Scream.

Or rather it should read as, in my bathroom it should be “in my bathroom nobody can hear me scream” I continued on my journey to being an old person this very morning! I continue to not sleep very well, as I awoke this morning at around 3.45, a little bit of a lie in for me, the day started in the usual way, I woke up and lay for a minute in the vain hope that my body would say “roll over and go back to sleep” it didn’t, it did as it usually does, it laughed long and hard at me being so bloody puny!

I did the usual ablution's, got washed and brushed my old and ageing teeth and then decided to get changed, that’s when my luck ran out, trying to get my feet into my shorts. Wrong move, standing on one leg, the other one was being uncooperative and not wanting to do as it was told and that precise moment my other knee gave way, allegedly I went down like I had been shot by a sniper, my head something hard as did my shoulder and by my estimates I was out cold for around 30 minutes, I was sore I was dazed and I was definitely confused! I tried to clear my head and I also tried to stand, battered and bruised I gingerly made my way downstairs, I sat in a chair and finally pulled my shorts on, took some painkillers (they didn’t work)and attempted to make a cup of tea (well its the English way to start the day) I then sat and contemplated my own mortality.

In the last 5 years or so my body has gone from being generally quite fit, to the wreck at the bottom of the ocean that stands before you all now. Slowly but surely it has started to disintegrate, obviously it has been going on for a lot longer but its taken me a lot of slaps to the back of my head before I stopped and took any notice, by then the rot had started and well truly set in, oh dear is the sound that was heard all around the world!

I realise as life goes on that I’m not as immortal as my teenage body thought I was, over the years I have had some knocks, and to be honest most were my fault but in reality if I had thought about it, you pay for it in later life, not when the knocks occur, I am trying harder to be a better person and look after what's left of my body, some days I’m successful and well some other days I’m not, thankfully those days are far less than I imagined, I have always been a bit of a car crash but at least I’m sitting up and taking notice!

We are not all bullet proof some of us are luckier than others, I’m desperate to get my new knee and that will help do better, and I have promised myself to do better in the maintenance of this broken down shell of my body, I’m hoping and praying that I don’t have any more near misses, especially in the bathroom, as I do believe I was very lucky this morning and I’m not a bloody cat, I do not have nine lives! So there you go another little missive, I do believe I am sorting out my technical issues in my life and that I have been having with the blog, fingers crossed, good times are coming in all aspects, thanks for the kind words thanks for the reading of the blogs, so stay safe and stay alive, until the next time…..Toodles!